They say one out of every hundred people is a psychopath. You probably passed on
e on the street today. These are people who have no empathy, who are manipulativ
e, deceitful, charming, seductive, and delusional. The Psychopath Test is the Ne
w York Times bestselling exploration of their world and the madness industry. Wh
en Jon Ronson is drawn into an elaborate hoax played on some of the world's top
scientists, his investigation leads him, unexpectedly, to psychopaths. He meets
an influential psychologist who is convinced that many important business leader
s and politicians are in fact high-flying, high-functioning psychopaths, and tea
ches Ronson how to spot them. Armed with these new abilities, Ronson meets a pat
ient inside an asylum for the criminally insane who insists that he's sane, a me
re run-of-the-mill troubled youth, not a psychopath-a claim that might be only m
anipulation, and a sign of his psychopathy. He spends time with a death-squad le
ader institutionalized for mortgage fraud, and with a legendary CEO who took joy
in shutting down factories and firing people. He delves into the fascinating hi
story of psychopathy diagnosis and treatments, from LSD-fueled days-long naked t
herapy sessions in prisons to attempts to understand serial killers. Along the w
ay, Ronson discovers that relatively ordinary people are, more and more, defined
by their most insane edges. The Psychopath Test is a fascinating adventure thro
ugh the minds of madness.
